No. 7 Michigan basketball hammers San Diego State in Vegas

James Hawkins, The Detroit News on Nov 25, 2025

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LAS VEGAS— The Wolverines made a strong opening statement at the Players Era tournament.

Fueled by a stingy defensive effort, No. 7 Michigan put the clamps on San Diego State and rolled to a 94-54 blowout win on Monday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Yaxel Lendeborg finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead six double-digit scorers for Michigan (5-0), which led by double figures for a large portion of the contest.

After leading by as much as 17 in the first half and by 12 at halftime, the Wolverines scored the first eight points out of the break to add to their cushion and kept pulling away.

Morez Johnson Jr. (13 points) scored off the glass off a behind-the-back pass from Aday Mara. The next trip down, Johnson corralled his own miss and scored an and-1 layup. Lendeborg drained an open corner 3 to make it 53-33 less than three minutes into the second half.

Given the way San Diego State couldn’t get anything easy on offense — the Aztecs made just one basket over the first eight-plus minutes of the second half — that seemed insurmountable.

Roddy Gayle Jr. (11 points) added to the Aztecs’ misery by scoring seven points in the blink of an eye. A steal by Johnson led to a runout dunk for Gayle. Then after Gayle muscled his way to the rim on Michigan’s next possession, he stole the inbounds pass and scored an and-1 layup to make it 66-39 with 11:38 remaining.

Michigan pushed the lead to 30 when Elliot Cadeau (13 points) turned a steal into a fast-break layup the other way. The Wolverines took their largest lead, 94-52, after they emptied their bench and Trey McKenney capped a 10-0 burst with a 3-pointer with 1:26 to go.

Michigan will look to move another step closer to the championship prize of $1 million in NIL-related funds in the event against No. 21 Auburn — an 84-73 winner over Oregon on Monday — at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16.

Elzie Harrington scored 15 and BJ Davis 11 for San Diego State (2-2), which is coached by former longtime Michigan assistant Brian Dutcher. The Aztecs shot 27.4% from the field (17-for-62), made just five shots in the second half and had 17 turnovers that led to 28 Michigan points.

While there were more San Diego State fans on hand, the Michigan contingent had more to cheer about during the first half when the Wolverines ripped off a 16-2 flurry and went up by double digits.

An offensive rebound by Mara led to a second-chance bucket by Lendeborg. Cadeau knocked down a 3-pointer in transition. Will Tschetter (10 points) canned a deep ball on back-to-back possessions to cap a string of 12 unanswered points to make it 17-7.

The Wolverines held the Aztecs scoreless for four minutes and to one basket over a nearly six-minute stretch during which they forced a bunch of tough mid-range shots. When Lendeborg put the finishing touches on the run with two free throws, Michigan held a 21-9 lead at the 12:17 mark.

The Wolverines widened the margin during a stretch where they took advantage of second-chance opportunities and turnovers. Nimari Burnett (11 points) came away with two offensive rebounds that he turned into four points. A traveling violation by San Diego State was followed by a Burnett 3-pointer. Michigan pulled ahead, 32-15.

San Diego State chipped away with 11-4 spurt that began with a rough 19-second sequence where the Aztecs grabbed two offensive boards, put up four shots, intercepted an outlet pass by Mara and drew a foul on Cason on a 3-point shot. A deep ball ended the run and cut the deficit to 38-29 at the 3:36 mark.

The Wolverines regained a double-digit advantage, took a 45-33 lead into the break and never looked back.

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